Cat on a Hot Tin Roof: An ambitious project

Pathos, garnished with sadness, served with a side of melancholy and a glass of red desolation.

It is impossible to overlook the beauty of a group of students summoning the audacity to actualise the art of a genius on the St-Andrean stage.

This time, it was Bennet Bonci, along with his troupe of passionate players who had especially steeled their souls to convey the Pulitzer Prize winning poetic piece, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

For those not familiar with the play, it is a domestic tale which recounts the Pollitt family reunion at the house of their extremely wealthy patriarch, Big Daddy Pollitt (Noah Liebmiller). From the offset, it is apparent that this family is not without its deep rooted issues bubbling beneath the surface which slowly and devastatingly come to light as the piece progresses.

Evidently Williams is a dramatist known for his exceptional ability to maintain his own distinct poetic voice through the speech of his characters without overshadowing the distinctness of their personalities or the naturalism of the dialogue.

On the one hand, the principle actors can be said to have dealt with such a loaded text reasonably well with the resonant beauty of Williams’s poetry having been effectively conveyed in a number of the duets and monologues. However, there were moments where diction was poor, which is particularly problematic when dealing with such a poetically rich text wherein it is vital that every word is heard. Furthermore, there were too many lines that were not known as well as they should have been.

Unfortunately this undermined the quality of some otherwise commendable work by inhibiting the viewer from being fully engrossed and entranced by the performance.

Loud emotional bigness was a central element of this production which did some justice to the idiosyncratic passionate emotional depth of Willams’ writing. Liebmiller in particular gave a visceral emotional intensity that was thoroughly engaging.

One notable scene was the moment he found out that, contrary to his previous belief, there was in fact a vicious cancer spreading throughout his body meaning that his expected fifteen to twenty remaining years of life was abruptly reduced to one or two. Here, without uttering a single word, Liebmiller took us so deep inside the emotional state of his character that I’m still there as I’m writing this review.

Catliff too gave a strident and emotionally powerful performance. His meticulous mastery of his own physicality enabled him to entrench his character in a thick, drunken and brooding depression, taking the whole audience there with him. The duet between these characters at the play’s centre was undoubtedly the highlight of the production.

However, this blessing was simultaneously the play’s curse as the remainder of the production was simply unable to match the emotional intensity, energy and slickness of this portion, leaving other scenes feeling underwhelming and emotionally wanting in comparison (despite decent efforts from many of the principles).

Nonetheless, there was a skilful tonal balance to the production, with the three Pollitt children (Adam Spencer, Michael Arianas and Hannah Raymond Cox) repeatedly intruding on scenes in a ridiculous manner just as they were reaching their emotional peak.

Such interruptions not only provided comic relief but created greater anticipation for the elements of the plot they had momentarily delayed us from being exposed to.

Furthermore, the set was one area in which this production most certainly excelled. This consisted of an impressive wooden reconstruction of the spare room Brick and Maggie stay in throughout the course of the text.

The attention to detail (in that the room had built in doors and was fully furnished) ameliorated the realness of the set which gave the theatrical experience a voyeuristic quality.

In conclusion, this play was an ambitious project, and even a passable result would be worthy of commendation. More than this, however, Bonci’s production was reasonably good and showcased a number of commendable performances.